Sunset Hearts
Inside the Haunted Cloud
self-released
Click to hear: “Kagura Beat”
The highly anticipated debut by Sunset Hearts delivers in spades. Packed with beguiling hooks and sinewy grooves, Inside the Haunted Cloud flirts with pop perfection, and scores again and again.
Haunted Cloud is essentially the third Satellite Lot record. The band revolves around singer and songwriter Casey McCurry, half of Satellite Lot’s creative core. McCurry and Aaron Hautala, who co-wrote two songs on this album, marshaled the talents of over a dozen local musicians to make their bar-setting debut, Second Summer.
The octet that is Sunset Hearts came together in a similar way. Most of them play in other Portland bands. They convened to do some Talking Heads covers for a Clash of the Titans gig. After that, “we decided that it was too fun to stop doing,” McCurry said, “so we started a band.”
Drummer Mike Cunnane, of The RatteSnakes and Huak, plays percussion. Former Extendo-Rider Brandon Davis (Elf Princess Gets a Harley) is one of two guitarists. Most of the recently defunct Marie Stella is on board, including guitarist Matthew Erickson and bassist Sydney Bourke. Bourke sang on both Satellite Lot releases, but in Sunset Hearts Sadie McCurry’s beautiful voice backs her brother’s.
Haunted Cloud takes the synthy ’80s dance-pop of Satellite Lot’s second release, 2007’s Sleepwalk in a Burning Building, to the next level. It’s more polished and nuanced than Sleepwalk, more finely produced. (Most of it was recorded by Ron Harrity, who seems to have a hand in every cool local album these days.)
Each song is richly, meticulously layered. Synths predominate, but the guitars are never far from the surface. The percussion team of Cunnane and drummer Max Heinz meshes well (the clattering bed they lay down on “Animal Bones” will satisfy your cowbell jones). The handclaps on “Paw Palace” and “Butterfly Blood” are among the many brilliant musical touches McCurry has applied to these tracks.
McCurry deftly builds “Lost Bête” from a wispy, rainy-day ballad into a dancefloor-mover. “Moments in Motion” keeps finding novel ways to sneak inside your head. The way the driving opener, “Kagura Beat,” coasts on a toggled synth note for a couple beats is just genius.
“I found my heart again / It was frozen to a stone / I felt the spirit leave me / And I’m just so glad it’s over,” McCurry sings on that song. There’s a lot to be glad about here. Welcome back, Casey.
— Chris Busby
Sunset Hearts plays a CD release show with Mango Floss and Kurt Baker on Sat., Oct. 1, at SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland, at 9 p.m. Tix: $6 (21+). For more on the band, visit sunsethearts.com.
